Stainless Steel 4-Piece Measuring Cup Set

The first time I picked up these cups, all I could say was WOW! These cups are HEAVY. They are made of a gauge of stainless steel that was much thicker than I expected, and not just any stainless steel, 18/10, the very best. The higher nickel content in 18/10 stainless means that, unlike cheaper brands (or generic brands with different brand names), these won't rust. There is so much to like about these cups, but a small caveat or two also. First to what is great about them.1: The quality and gauge of stainless steel. 18/10 (the best) and thick as well. These won't bend or deform like cheaper sets.2: The measurements are etched on. They won't rub off in time3: The shape. Wider than most, so the cups won't tip over, and the inside has a nice rounded shape that makes getting the contents out easier. Some people have said they prefer a cup a bit narrower, especially in the one cup size, but you have to counter balance that against the value of a more stable cup that won't tip.4: The handle and cup are all one piece of forged stainless steel. No more situations where the handle separates from the cup. Spot welded handles are the worst offenders, but I've had a riveted one break as well. No chance of that ever happening with these.5: Longer handles than other one piece designs, making them easier to grip. I have a set of generic one piece constructed cup and handle cups as well, but the handles on those are decidedly shorter.6: Seamless cup to handle design. This makes leveling off perfect. No lips for a palette knife to catch when you're leveling off.7: Accuracy! One of the, or even THE most important thing when it comes to measuring cups. There are many reviews which show that even popular brands fail in this most important test, sometimes by a lot too. This may be less critical in some areas of cooking, but in pastry, where a significant difference in measurement can mean the difference between a recipe succeeding or failing, accuracy is all important. Even though I prefer weighed ingredients (for the greater accuracy) in pastry work, in the event you have to rely on cups and spoon measurements, you know you can rely on these cups for accurate measurements.A few small caveats as well.1: Only four cup sizes, one cup, 1/2 cup, 1/3 cup and 1/4 cup. It's true, you can with these sizes, make up just any combination a recipe may call for, but how often have you come across a recipe asking for 3/4 or 2/3 of a cup? Quite a lot I'll wager. At least two extra cup sizes would have been very handy. However, if you kept all the cup sizes attached together with the ring, it would be too heavy and unwieldy, I'll give you that. Personally, I have the cups separated.2: Only the imperial measurements are shown on the top (such as 1 cup, 1/2 cup etc). To find the equivalent metric measurements, you have to turn the cup over. Use them often enough and you'll memorize them anyway, but it would have been nice to put the metric equivalents alongside the imperial measurements, there is plenty of room, practically every other brand has both measurements on the handle, so there's no reason not to as far as I can see.3: Weight, This can be a good or bad thing. Some people find them too heavy. It's true, the stainless is a thick gauge, you could probably hammer in a nail with these cups, not that I recommend that, but you probably could. The opposite argument is just as strong, these cups are built to last for generations, you'll be able to pass these on to your grand kids, and even they to "their" grand kids.4: The ring. OK, it holds all the cups together, but given how heavy these cups are, lifting them all at once to measure out an ingredient, well, they're too heavy for that. I took them off the ring myself.5: No internal markings. Many cups these days have part measurements stamped on the cups. A one cup for example, may have 1/2 a cup and more measurements stamped on inside of the cup (and showing on the outside in relief). My other brand does so. This can be convenient and useful where accuracy is not critical, although for pastry work, it's recommended you level off for greater accuracy. Eyeballing measurements, defeats the whole purpose.When it comes down it, these caveats are minor nitpicking really, I won't take a star off for these. These cups are made to a standard and quality you rarely see anymore, old fashioned quality, the kind of quality (if you're old enough to remember), that products "used" to be made to, not produced to be disposable and made cheaply for the lowest possible price. Even though a lot of what comes out of China is poorly made and poor quality, and these are made in China, it is true, but they are built to a VERY high quality standard. I doubt they could be made better if they were made in Japan or the good old USA to be honest. Even though they are more expensive than other brands, in my opinion, they are worth the extra money.

After breaking the handle off one of the cups in my cheapo plastic set, I went on a search for a nice set of cups and spoons. A lot of choices out there but in the end I settled on either the All Clad set or this one by CIA. The first thing I learned was that there's big differences that you might not pick up on before hitting the "send" button. The All Clad is a 5 cup set ($50 @ amazon) which includes the 1/4 cup, 1/3 cup, 1/2 cup 2/3 cup and 1 cup. Williams-Sonoma also sells the All Clad set in a different configuration (1/4 cup, 1/2 cup, 3/4 cup and 1 cup) for $30, OR $39 for the 4 cups and a matching spoon set. On the surface this looks like the best deal even with the $10 shipping tacked on, BUT W-S only includes the "even" sizes. If you want the 1/3 cup you've got to buy their "accessory odd size set" for another $30 (plus shipping) which includes the odd size spoons as well as 1/3, 2/3 and 1 1/2 cups. So to get a useable set fro W-S you need to pay $69 plus shipping. Not unreasonable given that you get 7 cups and 7 spoons but not everybody needs or wants that many measuring cups rattling around (and with the All Clad they will rattle... terrible stackers.I settled on the CIA set for a couple of reasons; I already had the CIA spoon set and I liked the cup shape. The 4 cups (1/4, 1/3, 1/2, 1 cup) handled my needs and stacked well but also hang nicely from an overhead cabinet door knob (out of the way but always handy), and that they were VERY well crafted of heavy SS. Both CIA and All Clad (and just about every other cookware manufacture) has all or most of their product line made under contract in China, so country of origin was not an issue. Finally I just couldn't see paying $50 for the All Clad set when this one was under $25. For me, paying $70 plus shipping from W-S for the "complete" set of All Clad was idiotic since I knew half of them weren't going to be used. The CIA set is just as well made, had a workable selection of cup sizes and came at the right price. I'm pleased and recommend this set.

UPDATE Sept 2021: It's been more than 5 years and my CIA measuring cups are still going strong. In fact, they still look new. I've lost count how many sets I have purchased of these; every bridal gift I've given since I found them has included a set of these measuring cups. The most recent set I purchased looks and feels just as sturdy and well-built as the originals that I have been using for years. No reduction in quality!These measuring cups have to be the best deal here on Amazon for stainless kitchen tools! I paid over $50 for a "high quality" set of stainless measuring cups from a high end cookware maker that I never liked, from day one. The handle was long & heavier than the bowl, so they fell backwards if you set them down. After multiple occasions of them dumping chopped nuts, rice cereal, flour etc... when I set them down, I finally had enough of them and went looking for something more reasonably priced that would hold up for the long haul. I found it with this Culinary Institute of America set. They are made all in one piece, no spot weld to cause the handle portion to fail. The measurement size is engraved into the handle, so it cannot wash off no matter how many times it goes through the dishwasher. And they are well balanced to stand alone & are heavy enough that there is little chance you could bend them even if you were trying to! I love them so much that I ordered two sets so I can keep the 1 cup as a scoop in my flour canister and the 1/2 cup in my sugar canister. The handles lend themselves to being used this way since they are not excessively long.